CULLOWHEE, N.C. – It’s become “usual” for ETSU to get Southern Conference road wins this season.
That’s just what they did again as ETSU beat Western Carolina, 79-65, for the fifth straight SoCon road victory at Ramsey Activity Center.
ETSU (17-4, 9-0 SoCon) started out droopy, going down early to the Catamounts (10-9, 4-5 SoCon) 13-10.
But they tied the game at 15 and went on a 12-0 run to put themselves up 29-17 nearing the halfway mark.
Again the Catamounts came out strong after the half and brought themselves within three of ETSU.
Raising the bar with an 11-2 run to put the Bucs up 47-32, the Catamounts never caught back up.
“It’s not of our best games but whenever you can go on the road and win by 14, it’s a great win,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow.
“It’s hard to win on the road by one or two, let alone 14. Our backcourt went for 46 points. James Anthony and Tim Smith were tremendous.”
Anthony scored 23 points, his career high, and hit five three-pointers, also a career best. He kept the Bucs on pace in the second half as he drained 15 of 23 in the second half. Three of his five three-pointers were hit in the second half.
“James Anthony played a phenomenal game as he scored 23 points on nine shots,” said Bartow.
Smith went 10-of-17 from the floor for his 23 points. Smith’s running shot was on and Bartow is pleased with his shooting percentage.
“Last time out, Tim was only six-of-17 in field goals. This time he hit 10. We told him that he needed to improve his field goal percentage,” Bartow said.
The biggest improvement from the last bout with Western Carolina may have been Kevin Martin’s lack of production.
The nation’s leading scorer, averaging 27 points a game, only managed 14.
Most of his 14 points came with four minutes left in the game.
“We did a great job stopping him (Kevin Martin) defensively. We used the zone and man-to-man.
“Ultimately, for him to score 21 free throws in the first game and hit just two in the second is great,” Bartow said.
Martin finished the game 6-of-13 from the field and had no three-pointers.
ETSU had four players in double figures. Besides Anthony and Smith, the two seniors Jerald Fields and Zakee Wadood put up double digits. Wadood had 14 and Fields had 10.
The Catamounts were led by Emre Atsur and Martin who each scored 14 points in the game.
“Our next game with UNC-Greensboro at Johnson City is going to be tough,” Bartow said. “At the end of that game, we could have lost but fortunately, we won. We need to pack the stands so we can win for a tough game.”
ETSU heads home for a Monday night matchup with UNC-Greensboro at 7 p.m.

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